>> couric: tonight, rebels in libya beat back attempts by the army to retake lost territory. the u.s. steps up the pressure on cadmy to quit, but he's still not giving up. i'm katie couric. also tonight, deep trouble in the midwest. heavy rain and melting snow adds up to flooding that's sweeping through hundreds of homes. are teachers taking a lesson from the labor dispute in wisconsin? a union leader is giving some ground on the red-hot issue of tenure. and the american spirit. an artist who brings to life a world his eyes cannot see. from cbs news world headquarters in new york, this is the "cbs evening news" with katie couric. >> couric: good evening, everyone. moammar qaddafi's latest offensive was a colossal failure and tonight he's more isolated than ever. troops loyal to qaddafi tried to retake three cities overnight but they were repelled by rebel forces. today in one of those cities, zawiyah, there were celebrations in the streets. the people are firmly in charge and demanding qaddafi go. secretary of state hillary clinton warned that unless he does, libya is at risk of a lo

. but defense secretary gates said they would be used in libya only for emergency evacuations or to deliver relief supplies. he raised a host of reservations about military intervention. no authorization from either the u.n. or nato, reluctance to tie up force which is might be needed in afghanistan, concerns about fanning anti-american sentiment in the rest of the arab world. >> we also have to think about, frankly, the use of the u.s. military in another country in the middle east. >> reporter: gates said he was unable to gauge the rebels' chances of overthrowing qaddafi. >> it remains to be seen how effectively military leaders who have defected from qaddafi's forces can organize the opposition in the country. >> reporter: secretary of state clinton ticked off future scenarios for libya, and two out of three were bad. >> libya could become a peaceful democracy or it could face protracted civil war or it could descend into chaos. >> reporter: the u.s. and britain are openly talking about setting up a no-fly zone over libya. >> it is not acceptable to have a situation where colonel qaddafi

the table, including imposing a no-fly zone which would ground libya's air force. today the u.s. moved a destroyer and a marine amphibious task force closer to libya, and the treasury said at least $30 billion in libyan assets have been frozen. in spite of all that and with much of libya in opposition hands, qaddafi still refuses to leave, telling abc "all my people love me." we have a team of correspondents in the region. first, kelly cobiella in tripoli >> reporter: for the second time, a funeral in this eastern suburb of tripoli turned into a protest. people here claimed qaddafi's gunmen killed five of their neighbors during demonstrations last friday. what you don't see are qaddafi's security forces, as they arrived shooting their guns in the air foreign journalists were forced to leave. a cell phone camera caught this battle 125 miles from the capital in the city of misurata. qaddafi's men have been trying to retake an airfield and ammunitions depot for days and still haven't won. closer to the capital, just 30 miles to the west, anti- government protestors are holding the oil ref

another. >> reporter: but republicans say a spike in u.s. jihadist terror plots justify their focus. between may of 2009 and november, 2010, arrests were made for 22 such plots-- more than in the previous seven years combined. >> there is that small element in the community that's radicalizing. >> reporter: poisoning the atmosphere was king's own past assertion-- that most u.s. mosques are run by radicals. >> cleaning a dirty kitchen you can't clean it with dirty water. >> reporter: king is from long island and his relations with muslim leaders there deteriorated after 9/11. >> we have some serious concerns because congressman king has been a muslim barber. >> reporter: keith ellison, one of two muslim congressmen, broke down as he recalled a paramedic killed on 9/11 who was later smeared because of his muslim faith. >> his life should not be identify as just a member of the ethnic group or just a member of a religion. >> reporter: despite the tension, king called this his happiest day. >> i challenge anyone to find anything that was improper about today's hearing. >> reporter: in f

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